Double-seaming head.



PATENTED AUG; 16, 1904. A. D. LUGIBIHL & H. D. ZEHRBAGH.

DOUBLE SEAMING HEAD. APPLIOATIOR FILED FEB 8 1904 1m IODEL.

. Hdii sm U ITED STATES Patented August 16, 1904. A

PATENT OFFICE.

ADAM D. LUGIBIHL AND HENRY D. ZEHRBAOH, OF BLUFFTON, OHIO.

DOUBLE-SEAMING HEAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,651, dated August 16, 1904..

I Application filed February 8, 1904. Serial No. 192,614. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ADAM D. LUGIBIHL and HENRY D. ZEHRBACH, citizens of the United States, residing at Bluffton, in the county of Allen and State of Ohio, have invented anew and useful Double-Seaming Head, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to double-seaming heads for use in seaming vessels of sheet metal; and the principal object of the presentinvention is to provide a double-seaming head which may be applied to double-seaming machines of the ordinary type and which will serve to seam oval vessels-such, for example, as washboilers and bath-tubsat one operation.

In attaining the objects above stated and others which will appear as the invention is more fully described we make use of the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts of a double-seaming head hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in a preferred form of embodiment in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which corresponding parts are designated bysimilar characters of refer' ence throughout.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in perspective of adouble-seamingmachine of ordinary structure having the improved doubleseaming head applied thereto and shown in operative position. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the double-seaming head. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view upon the line3 3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, F designates the framework or supporting structure of a seaming-machine which may be of any preferred construction, consisting in the form of machine illustrated of a suitable base B, a fixed standard S near one end of the base, which is provided at the top with suitable bearings for a shaft 1,-'bearing a seaming-wheel 2, and a sliding standard S, arranged for movement longitudinally of the base on ways W provided therefor. The improved seaming-head is rotatably mounted at the top of the lastmentioned standard, and it consists, preferably, of a horizontally'disposed disk 3, provided on the under side with a socket 4, and an oblong frame 5, which encircles the disk and is supported thereby. The socket 4 of the disk 3 fits over a spindle or stud provided therefor at the top of the standard upon which the seaming-head is mounted, and the disk 3 is provided at its periphery with a rabbet 6 at the top and a circumferential groove 7 below the rabbet, the flange at the lower side of the groove 7 being extended somewhat, as shown at 8. The frame 5, which encircles the disk, is of the size and contour of the bottom of the vessel which is intended to be double-seamed by the head, and the frame is composed of a slender bar, of steel or other suitable metal, preferably not more than one half of an inch in width, and is grooved along its inner surface, as shown at 9. The frame 5 is formed of a single bar of metal, and the ends thereof are merely brought together. as shown at 10, no means for positively attaching one end'to the other being necessary. The material of which the frame 5 is composed, whether steel or other metal,should be slightly resilient, so that the ends may be sprung apart sufficiently to permit the disk 3 to be intro.- duced into the central opening of the frame and the grooved edge of the disk be caused to engage with the groove in the inner surface of the frame.

In constructing the seaming-head as above described it is necessary to make the disk 3 and the socket on the under side thereof of steel or iron and to make the proportions such that the structure may withstand a very considerable strain, as in the double-seaming of heavy sheet metal the strain to which the seaming-head is subjected is sufficient to distort a structure that is not prepared to withstand heavy strains. In order to afford proper support to the frame, which is carried by the disk 3, and to insure the satisfactory operation of the double-seaming head, the flange below the groove 7 at the periphery of the disk 3 is extended sufficiently to afford a supporting-surface substantially as wide as the bar of which the frame is formed. The frame itself is made of a very narrow bar in order to reduce as much as possible the necessary width of the flange below the groove 7 on the periphery of the disk 3, and by making the frame of a narrow bar or rod a considerable saving in material is also eflected.

In double-seaming heads designed for doing the work for which our improved seaminghead is intended the practice heretofore has been to use a tolerably wide frame. This is objectionable on account of the strain to which the frame is necessarily subjected when not supported throughout its entire width and because with a frame made of wide material the heavy downward pressure at one side of the frame necessarily tends to tilt the opposite side of the frame upward, so making it necessary to provide on the disk opposite the point at which the seaming operation is carried on some means for holding the frame down and preventing any upward tilting thereof. As will be readily seen, by making the frame 5 of a narrow bar we are enabled to afford efficient support beneath the bar at the point at which the seaming operation is performed, and so to avoid any considerable tendency to tilt the opposite side of the frame upward. In this way We are enabled to do away with a considerable portion of the strain upon the frame 5 and also to lessen the friction which would be inevitable with a frame of tolerably wide material and a comparatively small disk working in the opening in the frame.

When the double-seaming head above described is in use, the rotation of the doubleseaming wheel imparts movement to the frame 5, causing it to move forward as the seamingwheel turns, and the movement of the frame is in turn imparted to the disk 3, upon which the frame is supported, so causing the disk and frame both to move without the application of force thereto except from the seamingwheel.

From the foregoing description it will be clearly seen that the movement of the frame 5 on the disk 3 is brought about automatically when the machine is in operation, that 1 the strain upon the frame is transmitted directly to the supporting-flange of the disk 3 beneath the frame, and that there is butlittle tendency to the production of friction between the disk and the frame constituting the double-seaming head, substantially all of the friction being developed immediately adjacent to the point of contact of the seamingwheel with the frame, which forms a part of the double-seaming head.

WVhile we have described and illustrated the preferred form of embodiment of our invention, it is obvious that alterations in the details of its construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing the advantages thereof, and we reserve the right to make such changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the nature and use of our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a double-seaming head, a rotary member provided at its periphery with a supporting-flange, and a resilient frame encircling the rotary member and resting upon the flange.

2. In a double-seaming head, a rotary member provided at its periphery with a supporting-flange, a frame having straight sides and rounded ends encircling said rotary member and resting upon said flange, said frame being made of resilient material and having the ends merely held in contact by the elasticity of the material.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto aflixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

ADAM D. LUGIBIHL. HENRY D. ZEHRBAOH. Witnesses:

FRANK A. EATON, ABE WISE. 

